Show us your Reuss stuff!

[Stogieman]

The mods will sift, compile and post an Imperial reference guide and pin it soon. Thanks to all for a great list and a great idea!!

[joe campbell]

i am a very big fan of herr nimmergut.

i am in the process of learning german

and learning german heraldry in conjunction

with my mentor. we read through an

award or two each week, with nimmergut's

extraordinary work as our common bond.

when i balked at the price of it, i was told

that i would never regret the purchase, and

to his credit my mentor even offered to

buy it back if i was unhappy/dissatisfied.

he still has his money in his wallet.

each day i am more impressed with

the amount of work herr nimmergut

undertook.

and i agree regarding his crediting his forerunners.

it really is quite an amazing effort.

magnum opus. yep.

joe

[Bob Hunter]

An excellent plan, Joe! It is nice to see we are all life long learners. None of that old dog business for us!

[Ulsterman]

A wonderful thread.

I would add two smaller works though-

Knussert's "Orden In Bayern" "

and

Holzman's "Badens Orden" . Both republished by PHV Verlag. Both out of date by 1914, but filled with info nuggets and small gems, like the service dates and places for the Sudwestafrika denkmunze.

Edited November 26, 2005 by Ulsterman

[notned]

Thankyou! Christophe!

That is an awsome refrence list! all yours! wow! musta cost a bomb!

I agree with Ed, must pin this usefull info for all to see.

Thanks Wild Card...i will look out for the The Magnum Opus!

And Stogie...really! that would be super! a reference list.... cant wait to see it!

Regards

Paul

[Bob Hunter]

Paul, check out Nimmergut's website for the referenced magnum opus.

[notned]

Bob, do you have the link please?

[Deruelle]

http://www.orden-gutachten.de/html/nachtrag-engl.html

Christophe

[Bob Hunter]

Paul, Christophe is my EVIL TWIN!

Edited November 26, 2005 by Bob Hunter

[Stogieman]

BTW, the price of these are ~250 USD each, they weigh a TON and are expensive to ship. But they are phenominal pieces of work!!

[David Gregory]

This EK, Sachsen-Weimar, Reuss and DA ribbon bar, presumably to an NCO, has been shown elsewhere before, but I include it in this dedicated Reuss thread:

[attachmentid=17173]

This rather worn Saxon bar also features a Reuss ribbon and various devices. I assume it represents the following awards:

• EK
• Verdienstorden mit Schwertern (or perhaps the Verdienstkreuz?)
• Albrechtsorden Ritter mit Schwertern 2. Klasse
• Reuss Ehrenkreuz (which grade?)
• Frontk?mpfer-Ehrenkreuz

It measures only a few millimetres in height. Is this a style typical for Saxon bars? Would this bar be typical for a well decorated Leutnant or Oberleutnant? What would be the rank list abbreviations for these awards?

[attachmentid=17179]

[attachmentid=17180]

[David Gregory]

This is a single full-size ribbon mounted on a robust brass bar:

[attachmentid=17191]

[attachmentid=17192]

[Stogieman]

Hi David, the "half-height" ribbon bars can be found across the board from many different states and seems to be a very individualistic choice. They show up quite a bit but not very often with as interesting a combination! Nice Bars!!

[David Gregory]

This bar is typical for those worn by WW1 veterans after 1934. Most of them remain anonymous. However, this one came with the man's Milit?rpass, so it does have a story.

[attachmentid=17194]

[attachmentid=17195]

Albert Oskar K?rner (Oskar to his friends), was born in Tanna near Schleiz in the Principality of Reuss j?ngerer Linie on 19 January 1888. He was single and working as a plumber's assistant when he was called up as a replacement recruit and assigned to the recruit depot of the 1st replacement battalion of Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 31 on 18 December 1914. In early March 1915, probably after completing his basic training, he was transferred to the 2nd replacement battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 85. Two weeks later, he joined the 7th company of Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 98.

His regiment was part of 9. Reserve-Division and had been in the lines on the Verdun front since the beginning of December 1916. He was closely involved in the vicious fighting that took place when the Germans launched their assault in February 1916. His company was assigned to 10. Reserve-Division for the attack on the eastern edge of Cauri?res Wood on 25 February 1916, which resulted in the capture of Bezonvaux together with 243 prisoners and 8 machine-guns of French Infantry Rgiment 44.

Following initial successes, the German attack started to slow down and by early March, the battle had turned into a war of attrition. 9. Reserve-Division was involved in several attacks between 8 and 10 March to take Fort Vaux which, according to confusing reports, was captured by the Germans and then apparently retaken by the French. By the morning of 10 March, his battalion was so exhausted that it was relieved by elements of Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 37. On 11 March, the division was withdrawn from the fighting. The respite was only short as, on 23 March, Oskar K?rner was badly injured as the result of being buried, probably in a trench that collapsed when bombarded by the French artillery.

He was evacuated to a dressing station at Jouvaincourt, where he remained for five days before being transported to a hospital in Germany. His injuries were so severe that he did not leave convalescent care until December 1916, when was assigned to a replacement unit. He was awarded his EK2 on 22 July 1916, almost certainly for the fighting at Verdun.

In January 1917 he was fit enough to return to active service and joined the newly raised Infanterie-Regiment 458, which was part of 236. Infanterie-Division and deployed to the new Sigfriedfront. He was involved in the fighting at Arras in May 1917 and all seemed to be going well for him until he was wounded in the left hand by shell splinters on 22 June 1917. After spending a month at Field Hospital 112, he returned to 12. Kompagnie in late July 1917. He spent the rest of 1917 fighting in French Flanders and Artois until the Spring Offensive in 1918, when he was involved in open warfare in Cambrai and on the Scarpe. From April until September 1918 he was either fighting in the Ypres salient or resting in the rear sector held by 4. Amee. In late October 1918 he was promoted to Gefreiter for bravery in the face of the enemy. He spent the last months of the war fighting on the Woevre Plain and in fighting retreats in Champagne and on the Maas. His war ended when he was discharged and returned to Reuss in early December 1918. He received the wound badge in black for two wounds on 18 May 1918 and was awarded his Reuss silver merit medal with swords as shown above on 25 May 1918.

My apologies for a slightly off-topic discourse, but some otherwise anonymous medal bars do have a story to tell.

[David Gregory]

Here is a single example of a cased Silver Merit Medal with Swords.

[attachmentid=17206]

The obverse:

[attachmentid=17207]

[David Gregory]

And the reverse:

[attachmentid=17209]

And details of the lid:

[attachmentid=17210]

[Guest Rick Research]

IF George's collection had all been photographed before it was dispersed forever, any book anybody would ever have wanted COULD have been produced (in as many volumes as it took) to be the Ultimate Reference.

Now that too is lost forever as a possibility.

MY end of such things was purely from the "personnel" side, officer research. Never even handled the exotic expensive stuff like stars and sashes et cetera-- when I was at George's we did MEDAL BARS. I turned down chances at holding Max Josephs and Pour le Merites because we were into the medal bars cabinet and the latest Anonymous Medal Bar Research Project. Sigh. As an apprentice I only got as far as groups' owners' identifications, not the actual Every Single Award. All my own limited-focus expertise went into the ribbon bar article online which has now been stolen from me, so my heart's just not in any further grand efforts any more.

Back to David's #61 above-- if my eyes mistake me not, what I see on the half-height bar are three SILVER Xs and a bronze Hindenburg. That makes that a Feldwebelleutnant level bar, with Merit Crosses of the Saxon Merit and Albert Orders: SV4X, SA4X and probably the Reuss Merit Cross X though might be the silver medal-- abbreviation RE with the class number X for the Order/Cross and RgMX/RsMX for the two grades of medal with swords.

[Stogieman]

Nope, I'm seeing bronzeish swords on the VO,AO & HKwX and silver swords on the RHO

[David Gregory]

Stogieman is right about the colours of the devices.

The poor daylight in which I took the photos this afternoon renders the colours rather badly, which are not easy to discern due to the wear it displays in any case. A close inspection of the bar under bright light shows that the colours are just as he suggests.

If these device colours are correct, and not the result of the "salty" condition of the bar, what grades do the ribbons represent?

Is the Reuss award the Silver Merit Medal with Swords bestowed to the first owner of the bar as an NCO? Or is it the third or fourth class of the Honour Cross? Would a Feldwebelleutnant have received the fourth class of the Honour Cross or the Gold Merit Medal with Swords? What colour would the devices have been in those cases?

An NCO awarded the Silver Merit Medal with Swords might have received the Knights Crosses of the Merit and Albert Orders. Does that make sense and do the devoce colours match this combination?

Are any other combinations of awards possible?

Thanks in advance,

David

[Dave Danner]

So there is nothing that just covers the different states and duchies major awards and service medals.... not the endless varieties, of the high end ones like the Prussian Red eagle order. From, which we can refer to the In the specialized publications...?

http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/states.htm

It generally does not cover service medals, but it covers the primary military awards of each state. If I have the time, I plan on adding a separate section on campaign medals. As always, contributions of images to fill the many gaps are more than welcome.

[Stogieman]

I think w. Bronze swords we're probably looking at VOR2wX, AOR2wX... if they were gilt, I'd be tempted to say 1. Kl. but a 3. or 4. Kl. HK of the RHO would lend against that.....

[Ed_Haynes]

So far, there isn't much at the OMSA site. Can someone feed it, please?

http://www.omsa.org/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=658

[Blitz]

I've been interested with Reuss things for quite some time now, but I haven't started to collect them.. ..yet.. Don't get me wrong, Baden is my main interest, but I do have to expand to other states to keep my collecting viable. Besides there aren't many Baden awards left that I could acquire. I got one nice item from Christian that I will post in a while.

So any and all members who have Reuss honor crosses and other Reuss things, please share them so we can ! I may have something to add to this thread too In a little while..

[Red Eagle]

I would like to show you a handwritten awarddocument to the honour cross 1. class with the crown of the Principality of Reuss.

The designation "Liebden" is to be seen rather as an old "intimate" designation of humans, who enjoy high reputation. It does not concern thus a name.

The text:

"Euer Liebden verleihe Ich hiermit Mein Ehrenkreuz 1. Kl. mit der Krone, welches nebst einem Exemplar des Ordensstatuts mitfolgt.

Schloss Osterstein am 18. Juni 1886."

The signer is Heinrich XIV, prince v. Reuss recent line, regent 1867-1908.

Greetings

Red

[Blitz]

Hmm.. Most interesting.. As it's a 1st cl. with crown the recipient would have to be atleast a general-leutnant or a noble of very high standing. Thank you very much for sharing!